Kohli rises to 2nd spot in ICC Test rankings

Riding on a career-best 243 in the third Test against Sri Lanka, India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday, jumped three places to grab the second position among batsmen in the ICC Test rankings.

Kohli's double ton was followed by a 50 in the second innings as he finished with 610 runs in the series, which India won 1-0 after the first and third Test ended in draws in Kolkata and New Delhi.

The India captain, who slammed back-to-back double-centuries and recorded three-figure scores in three consecutive matches, was ranked sixth at the start of the series, but leapfrogged David Warner, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kane Williamson and Joe Root after the stupendous run, which saw him average 152.50.

Though 45 points separate him from Australia captain Steve Smith, Kohli will be eyeing the chance of reaching the zenith in all three formats since he is the current No. 1 in ODIs and T20Is, the ICC said in a statement.

IMAGE: After scoring a century in the first Ashes Test at The Gabba in Brisbane, Steve Smith reached 941 points. However, this week he has dropped 3 points to 938. Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Smith though has been in a different league and last week reached 941 points, the joint fifth-highest in terms of the points tally in batting history in Tests.

Smith is now on 938 points while Kohli is on 893 points.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is the only batsman to have been at the top in all three formats at the same time – in December-January 2005-06, while his compatriot Matthew Hayden is the other batsman to have topped all three formats.

Though Smith enjoys a substantial lead over Kohli, the competition for second to fifth positions remains intense. Before this Test, only 11 points separated second-ranked Pujara from fifth-ranked Kohli.

Following the latest performances, the gap has increased slightly with 28 points now separating second-ranked Kohli from fifth-ranked Williamson.

Among other Indians, opener Murali Vijay (up three places to 25th) and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma (up six places to 40th) have moved up in the rankings.

Pujara slipped two places to the fourth spot.

IMAGE: Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal made his way to into the Top-10 for the first time in his career. Photograph: BCCI

In the bowlers’ rankings, Ravindra Jadeja slumped to the third position after losing a place while R Ashwin was unmoved at the fourth spot.

In the all-rounders’ list, Jadeja was at the second spot, while Ashwin fell a rung to be at the fourth position.

For Sri Lanka, captain Dinesh Chandimal moved into the top 10 for the very first time, gaining eight places to take ninth position after finishing the series with 366 runs.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews moved up seven places to 23rd after scoring 111 in the first innings of the 3rd Test, while Dhananjaya de Silva's match-saving 119 in the second innings lifted him nine places to 47th.

In the ICC Test Team Rankings, India lost one point but stayed well ahead of South Africa at the top of the rankings, while Sri Lanka remained on its pre-series tally of 94 points in sixth place.